A look at the Defence news 9 – 15 April

News item | 18-04-2018 | 12:24

Almost 70 jet fighters are participating in Frisian Flag, which started this week. During this major annual exercise hosted by Leeuwarden Air Base, fighter aircraft from seven countries complete complex training missions in an international context.

Bijleveld visits US Secretary of Defence Mattis

The Syrian situation, Dutch defence spending, military mobility, European defence cooperation, Russia and the fight against ISIS were just a few of the subjects that Netherlands Minister of Defence Ank Bijleveld-Schouten discussed with her American counterpart James Mattis at the Pentagon in Washington, DC.

Improved Leopards for German–Dutch tank battalion

Manufacturer Kraus Maffei Wegmann has delivered the first three modified ‘German–Dutch’ Leopard battle tanks to the German army. The Leopard 2A6MA2 has a Dutch communication and information system, enabling seamless digital communication with Dutch units.

F-35 test flights completed

Operating out of Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, USA, the F-35 Lightning II has completed the last test flights of the development phase. There have been 11 years of testing since the F-35 first took to the air in 2006.